Topsham,
Devon May 16, 2005 For the sixth year in a row, a pair of swans
have nested in the riverbank underneath our garden wall, just off the
Topsham Quay. Yesterday Bella called to us excitedly, "The cygnets
have hatched!"
And here they are, less than one day old:

The original story of how they came to us is
a saga of trauma, high tide and intrigue...and the culinary pleasures
of eggs.

17/05/05
The cygnets have already taken to the water, though the journey down
through the reeds and across the wide glistening stretch of mud is not
without its hazards. It seems there is a 'runt', a smaller-than-the-rest
cygnet that is always lagging behind and getting stuck chest-down in
the thick and oozing Tops'm mud. But somehow the little fellow has managed
to make it down from and - even more difficult - back up to the nest.
Once in the water, they swim as naturally as if they had been doing
it all their lives - which in truth they virtually have! They come to
our pontoon and we toss them tiny morsels of bread. The mother and father
greedily snatch it away, even from their own babies!